Three Biblical Truths for When You Face the Storms of Fear, Anxiety, or Failure

One sunny summer afternoon, I watched my kids running around the backyard. 

On an ordinary day, I felt content. 

I lit up my phone to sort through a few emails while I had the chance.

My eyes fell on a message from LinkedIn, and I opened it. I saw an update about one of my college friends who I hadn’t seen these past ten years. The email told me of her new success—she now runs her own consulting firm. 

The girl was in my freshman physics class. While she went the chemical engineering route, I decided on the mechanical engineering path.

After that class, our lives diverged. 

My story includes leaving a respected, high-paying job to become a stay-at-home mom and later, a writer. 

No one ever said it to me, but my fear was of what they all thought:

“Loads of potential down the tube.”

Or, “Straight A’s to sweeping floors.”

Or, “We all thought she would be so successful.”

By this point, I had years of practice tamping down these voices. I focused on God, the one who had led me step-by-step to this point. 

But on this cloudless afternoon, the thunderheads began to gather in my mind. A tightness gripped my chest, and all the old fears came rolling in.

Have you experienced something similar? Out of the blue a comparison, a fear, a worry, or a failure changes your inner landscape from one of peace and calm to a vision-blurring downpour that washes away the firm ground beneath your feet.

When the Disciples Faced a Storm

The account of Jesus calming a storm is found in three of the gospels: Luke 8:22-25, Matthew 8:23-27, and Mark 4:36-41.

The disciples boarded a boat with Jesus to cross the Sea of Galilee. Jesus fell asleep, and then, “there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves” (Matthew 8:24). The disciples believed they were dying. They woke Jesus, and he “rebuked the wind and the raging waves” so that all was calm once again (Luke 8:24).

Based on this account and my experience, I’ve learned three truths that apply to the inner storms of frustration, worry, or fear we encounter today.

1. We Need Jesus in the Calm and in the Storm

We’ve all either heard stories about that person or been that person who only calls on God in a time of desperate need. 

We see the movie’s main character, read about the protagonist, or have a friend who is more than happy to relegate God to nothing more than a footnote in the story of their lives.

When trouble comes they pull out their prayer card and expect to summon him like a genie. They promise they’ll do anything if, in return, he’ll only grant them a favorable outcome.

In my younger years, some version of this played out when a relationship hit the rocks or I needed clear direction in the face of a hard decision.

I’m thankful that he has answered my prayers for an ever-growing love and affection for him. 

He has drawn me to his Word and taught me about his faithfulness in the times when I wasn’t going through a trial or finding myself in dire need. 

He uses times of calm to teach us where to look in times of trouble.

Watching the disciples, we see they knew enough about Jesus to go to him when the waves crashed over the sides of the boat. 

They didn’t turn to Peter and say, “Do something!” The disciples didn’t shake their fists at the sky and demand that the clouds scatter.

They turned and looked for Jesus.

When the storm hit, the disciples had already listened to Jesus teach, watched him heal many, and witnessed the dead come back to life. 

They knew enough about Jesus to call for him during a time of trouble. Still, Jesus asked them, “‘Where is your faith?’” because they believed they were perishing without hope (Luke 8:25).

2. Survival or Surrender

Jesus diagnosed their lack of faith, and in this part of the story, I learned the second truth:

The storms of life don’t test our survival; they test our surrender.

When the winds kick up, we can abandon our faith in the saving, always-with-us, all-powerful God, or we can press further into it.

Whatever storms come into our lives, we can know he is concerned with how we surrender to him in faith rather than how we muscle through.

How do I know this? After quieting the waters, he didn’t say, “Woah, that was a close one. I’m really glad we’re all in one piece.” 

Instead, “He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’” As a result of the experience, the disciples “were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?’” (Luke 8:25)

In our storms, can we say we are meeting them with faith in God’s power and presence?

When I struggled with comparison and jealousy that warm afternoon, I can say that by God’s grace, I didn’t distract, numb, or tell myself how great I am. I turned to God and asked him to remind me of what is true. I deleted that LinkedIn email, and I surrendered to him and his plan for my life.

3. Even Our Inner Storms Obey His Voice

For the disciples, the storm ended almost immediately after calling on the name of Jesus. Does this mean the same will be true for us? 

We get pea-green jealous, deathly frightened, or worried sick, and then at the whisper of a prayer, will our mental anguish be removed? Maybe. But not necessarily. 

On the Sea of Galilee, Jesus chose to calm the waters. I would say his goal wasn’t to restore their physical comfort or even to banish the fears in their heads. His goal was to reveal more of his character and build their faith.

If we take away from this Bible story an application of “he quieted the storm then, so he’ll do it just as quickly and resolutely now,” I think we’re missing the bigger, better story.

We all know of situations that aren’t quickly resolved in perfect peace and restoration.

Maybe you’ve lived with depression for years.

Perhaps the same, exact storm keeps popping up over and over again.

I have a tendency to believe that the chaos in my head is in my realm of power and control. Anyone else?

I can believe God will provide me with food and clothes, but when it comes to my inner world, I put myself in the driver’s seat. 

I tend to think that if I’m struggling with doubt or worry, it’s my fault, and I have to figure my way out of it. For sure, sometimes our notions aren’t in line with the Bible and we need to go to his word for the complete, proper perspective on the issue we’re facing.

But we are also remiss if we believe our inner storms are outside of God’s control.

He can quiet those inner-world storms with a word. But if, or when, he doesn’t we can be sure he hasn’t left us or forgotten us. I would suggest he is using the storms to grow our dependence on him.

A Prayer for You to Use

Big, thunder-cracking storms have a way of sneaking up on us, don’t they? We can be all sunshine and joy when the LinkedIn email pops up or the doctor calls or the critique comes. 

We’re not always prepared with the proper response or the words to pray.

That’s why I’ve written a one-minute prayer based on the Scripture of Jesus calming the storm.

When you’re not sure where to turn or what to say, you can read this prayer to remind you of what is true. 

As I wrote this prayer, I thought of you, dear reader, looking for a foothold. My hope is that the words of this prayer will clear the water drops from your eyes long enough to fix them on Jesus.

These words won’t be the answer to all your troubles, but his presence is. And by coming to him in faith, through prayer based on Scripture, you’ll find everything you need to weather the storm. Download the prayer today.

*Featured Photo by Shashank Sahay on Unsplash; additional photos by Hans Isaacson on Unsplash and by Giga Khurtsilava on Unsplash